Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder drives past Washington Wizards forward Martell Webster and center Kevin Seraphin in the third quarter at Philips Arena on Sunday.
Agencies/New York
Quietly and with little fanfare, the Atlanta Hawks have soared atop the Eastern Conference. Whether they’re the real deal, just ask their latest victims.
Kyle Korver led a balanced scoring attack, hitting five triples en route to 19 points Sunday, and the hot Hawks whipped the visiting Washington Wizards 120-89 for their eighth straight victory.
“We just got our asses kicked,” said Wizards big man Kevin Seraphin, who scored 13 points in the club’s worst beating of the season.
DeMarre Carroll scored 16 points, and Jeff Teague contributed 11 with 10 assists for Atlanta (29-8), which buried 16-of-31 from behind the arc en route to its 22nd win in the last 24 games.
“We put on one of our best performances of the season,” said Hawks big man Al Horford, after netting 15 points in the wire-to-wire wipeout. “I’ve never seen us like this besides the playoffs.”
John Wall had 15 points, eight assists but eight turnovers for sloppy Washington (25-12), which committed 20 turnovers resulting in 31 points for the winners.
“When you turn the ball over as many times as we did, and they capitalize off those turnovers, we’re really shooting ourselves in the foot,” Wizards veteran forward Paul Pierce said.
“That’s what makes them so good. They cause turnovers and force deflections. They stay with their principles and keep coming offensively with all of their movement. They had better discipline than us tonight.”
In a showdown of Southeast Division leaders, the Hawks roared to an early 20-point cushion that was sliced to 55-50 at halftime and 69-67 midway through the third quarter.
“I don’t think we were as good defensively during that stretch,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Offensively, we got a little stagnant for a pretty long stretch.”
But the Hawks responded by going on a 15-2 run, highlighted by back-to-back triples from Pero Ancic and Carroll, to open up an 84-69 lead.
Atlanta carried a 10-point advantage into the fourth period and outscored its guests 33-12 for the lopsided win.
“We kept our composure. We didn’t get too high or too low,”
